GLENN DICKEY -- For Raiders, It's Already Time to Get Tough

GLENN DICKEY

Published
4:00 am PDT, Saturday, July 29, 1995

1995-07-29 04:00:00 PDT Oxnard, Ventura County -- NEXT WEEK will be a critical one for the Raiders, not for the exhibition game they'll play against the Dallas Cowboys, but for the week of practice against the Cowboys.

"We have to gain some respect," said coach Mike White in training camp. "We have to show the Cowboys that we belong on the field with them."

It shouldn't be that way because, in talent, the Raiders are in the very top part of the league. Everywhere you look, there's great ability, from fleet receivers to a defense with both speed and size..

Yet the Raiders didn't even make the playoffs last year, and this is clearly a team in search of an identity.

White believes the problem started with the first game of last season, when the 49ers crushed the Raiders on Monday night. I think it may go deeper than that, to the lack of support the team suffered in Los Angeles.

In the period of the Raiders' first success, Al Davis played well on the underdog role, for the Raiders and the AFL. But that worked because the team always had strong support from the Oakland crowds. It didn't have that in Los Angeles; even when the crowds were large, many of the spectators came to see the other team.

SENSITIVE TO CROWDS, INJURIES

You might find it difficult to think of a 300-pounder as sensitive, but in fact pro football players rely on the support of the home crowds. They are also sensitive to the fact that their world can collapse because of injury. There was a tragic reminder of that this week with a story about former Raider offensive line standout Curt Marsh, who had to have a leg amputated as a result of a football injury.

Whatever the reasons for their psychological collapse, the Raiders must turn their attitude around to take full advantage of their physical skills, and White must lead the way.

It becomes increasingly clear that White has the ultimate responsibility. Davis did not even appear at training camp until Thursday. Whether that was because he was dealing with the complications in the deal to return to Oakland or whether it was because he didn't want to overshadow White is immaterial: For all but two days this week, he has not been here.

White is handling the responsibility well. Much has been made of the changes he will make to the offensive system, but his style of coaching is equally important. He has brought a discipline that the Raiders have lacked.

RUNNING PRECISE DRILLS

Practices are precise, with exact time schedules. To pick up the tempo, he scheduled a night practice one day this week -- and, significantly, no player missed the bus. He had NFL officials in camp for Thursday's practice to call penalties and remind his players how many foolish penalties they incurred last season.

White has always been a good communicator, with players and the media, and he has not lost those skills.

Reporters are especially grateful for that because otherwise, the Raiders have more restrictions on the media than any team I've ever known, including the old Raiders. Players can only be interviewed in a 45-minute period in mid-day, and the quasi-military approach the Raiders have had since Davis first arrived in 1963 remains. The Chronicle's Tim Keown, sitting down on the grass at one practice, was told he had to stand up because "the players are working and we are, too."

White makes up for that -- almost -- with his relaxed daily sessions, reminding me of John Madden in the way he banters with the press. The sessions are long, nearly an hour on Wednesday, and White often goes off on tangents that are more informative than the regular line of questions and answers.

NO-HUDDLE WILL BE TRIED

One time, for instance, he digressed to say that his quarterbacks will sometimes use the no- huddle system, to make them more involved in play calling. "I think there's been too much movement away from quarterbacks calling plays," he said. "This makes them do it, and it really keeps them in the game because they have to look at the defense and make a decision. They can't blame somebody else for making a bad call."

Another time he noted that teams try to move around pass-rush specialists to keep them from being blocked, but Dallas just lines up Charles Haley on the right side every down. "They put him out far enough that nobody can get to him to block him," White said.

He can also be quite candid about his players. Asked about Rocket Ismael, he said, "Because he did so many different things at Notre Dame and Canada, he hasn't really learned how to play wide receiver." Backup quarterback Billy Joe Hobert, he said, was more interested in his scratch golf game than football last season.

White is getting a chance to be a head coach in the NFL at a time when it seemed he had been forgotten. Thankfully, that hasn't made him uptight. It has made him determined to turn the Raiders around. Next week, we'll start to see if he can bring back those days when they were the Oakland Raiders -- the most feared team in football.